An outbreak of rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD)
occurred in a backyard rabbitry in Vanderburgh County, IN on May
27, 2005. The disease was confirmed by Plum Island Foreign Animal Disease
Diagnostic Laboratory on June 7. No additional outbreaks have been identified. The
only reported outbreaks of RHD in the
US
were in Iowa in 2000, and in Utah, Illinois (due to rabbit movement from Utah)
and New York in 2001. RHD was first identified in
China
in 1984, and is now considered endemic in many parts of the world. It
is a highly infectious disease in which up to 90% of the affected animals may
die.

The US
rabbit industry is multi-faceted and comprised of meat and fur production, research
rabbit production and hobbyists who raise rabbits for pets, shows and private
consumption. Precise data on the rabbit industry is difficult to find
due to the relatively small size and diverse nature of the industry. The overall
financial value of the rabbit industry is small when compared to other livestock
industries in the
US
and to the rabbit industries of other countries. The
US
does export rabbits and rabbit products, but its share of world exports is
small. US imports of rabbits and rabbit products are also small when compared
to other livestock industry imports. In the past three years, most
US
live rabbit imports came from
Canada
.
China
supplied the
US
with the most rabbit meat in 2004, substantially increasing these exports
to the
US
between 2003 and 2004. In the past three years, the majority of imported
rabbit furskins originated in
Belgium
and
Spain
.

How extensive is the situation?

An outbreak of RHD began on May 27, 2005 in a backyard rabbitry in Vanderburgh
County, Indiana. Eight of a group of eleven rabbits that were purchased
in Kentucky at a flea market on May 24 died acutely three days later in Indiana following
introduction into the herd. The owner had approximately 200 rabbits in total,
nearly half of which also subsequently died. A foreign animal disease investigation
was initiated jointly by the Indiana Board of Animal Health and APHIS- Veterinary
Services on June 3. Rabbit hemorrhagic disease was confirmed at Plum Island
Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory on June 7.

The current outbreak appears to be confined to the
index premises where 104 rabbits were euthanized on June 8, with cleaning
and disinfection following. Some rabbit fatalities were reported at a pet
shop that was supplied by the index premises and samples from these rabbits
are currently being tested at the Plum Island Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic
Laboratory. No other indications of additional affected premises have been
found to date. Tracebacks to the seller and the flea market in Kentucky
are underway in addition to traceouts from the index premises.The
last outbreaks of RHD in the US
were in Iowa in 2000, and in Utah, Illinois and New York in 2001.
Background Information on Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Rabbit hemorrhagic
disease (RHD), also known as rabbit calicivirus disease and as viral hemorrhagic
disease of rabbits, first appeared in
China
in 1984 and is now considered to be endemic in much of the world including
most of Europe, much of Asia, and in
Australia
,
New Zealand
, and
Cuba
.

Rabbits of the genus Oryctolagus are susceptible
to RHD. This includes most show, pet, and laboratory rabbits. Wild rabbits
in the
US
, such as the cottontail and jack rabbit, are not of the genus Oryctolagus and
are not susceptible to RHD. An exception to this is a population of rabbits
of the genus Oryctolagus that live on the San Juan Islands, Washington. European
rabbits that have escaped into the wild in the
US
can also be susceptible. Humans and other mammals are not affected by RHD.

RHD is a highly contagious virus and up to 90% of affected
animals may die. The disease progresses rapidly, with death typically occurring
1-3 days after initial infection. The virus is hardy and disease can be
transmitted by contact with infected rabbits or their excreta, rabbit products
(meat, furskins, offal), insects (mechanical transmission), rodents, and
contaminated objects, such as cages, feeders, and clothing. There is some
evidence that rabbits surviving infection can become carriers of the virus
and spread disease to other susceptible rabbits. Vaccines to protect domestic
rabbits have been developed and are used in Europe,
Australia
and
New Zealand
. Vaccine to protect against RHD is not currently approved in the
US
.

Sources: OIE, USDA:APHIS:CEAH:CEI:
Impact Worksheets, USDA:APHIS Factsheets, Center for Food Security and
Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State
University

The US Rabbit Industry

The
US
rabbit industry is composed of a number of diverse groups with differing goals. Commercial
production includes rabbit meat and rabbit furs and skins. Rabbits are also
produced for the research community. Hobby rabbits can include rabbits raised
as pets, for the show circuit, home consumption or as 4H animals. The exact
numbers within these groups are unknown. The total estimated domestic rabbit
population in the
US
in 2000 was 9 million. The overall value of the rabbit industry is small when
compared to other livestock industries in the
US
, as well as in comparison to rabbit industries in other countries. The total
estimated value for all rabbit industries (commercial, research, and hobby)
in the
US
, where information is available, was $745 to $831 million in 2001. Currently,
rabbits are not classified as livestock in the
US
. Rabbits are covered under the Animal Welfare Act administered by APHIS,
Animal Care. Source: US Rabbit Industry Profile, USDA:APHIS:VS:CEAH:CEI, 2002.What are
US exports and imports of live rabbits/hares and rabbit/hare products?US
Exports The
US
exports relatively small amounts of live rabbits and rabbit meat (Table 1). The
total value of US exports of rabbits and rabbit meat can be highly variable
from year to year. Countries that receive US exports of live rabbits or rabbit
meat also vary from year to year. Over the past several years, US exports
of rabbit meat have declined substantially and in 2003 accounted for only about
0.02% of world rabbit meat exports. The value of
US
live rabbit exports accounted for 3.5% and 2.7% of total world export value
in 2002 and 2003, respectively. The corresponding shares for the volume of
live rabbit exports were 1.4% and 1.1% for the same two years. The
US
exported no rabbit furskins between 2002 and 2004. Between 2002 and 2004,
the value of US live rabbit exports declined by about one-half, with most of
the decline occurring between the latter two years of the time period.
Canada
receives the vast majority of
US
rabbit exports and the proportion of total live rabbits that were sent to
Canada
grew from about 61% in 2002 to 93% in 2004. During 2002, the
US
exported almost one fourth of its live exports to
Japan
; however, by 2004
Japan
received no
US
live rabbit exports. During 2004, the
US
only exported live rabbits to
Canada
,
Italy
, and
Israel
. Concordant with the 50% decline in US live rabbit exports during the 2002 – 2004
time period, was a 60% drop in US rabbit meat exports (Table 2). Also, over
this three-year period, the receiving markets for US rabbit meat shifted substantially.
Belgium
and French Polynesia were the recipients of 46% and 35% of rabbit meat exports,
respectively, in 2002; however, the
US
did not export any rabbit meat to these countries during 2004. Conversely,
Guatemala
did not import
US
rabbit meat in 2002; however, it was the largest
US
export market for this product during 2004, receiving 82% of
US
rabbit meat exports. > Table 1. US Exports of Live Rabbits/Hares, by Country,
2002 – 2004

Source: United Nations FAO, Global Trade Atlas Data on US state
exports of rabbit meat are only available by value, not by quantity. The states
represented in the table below (Table 3) are the states from which export movement
originated and not necessarily the states in which the product was grown or
manufactured. The
US
exported only a minimal amount of rabbit meat in recent years. The majority
(82%) of US rabbit meat exports in 2004 were exported from California. > Table
3. US Exports of Rabbit Meat, by State, 2002 – 2004

> Exports of Rabbit Meat, Fresh or Frozen
(US $’s)

State

2002

2003

2004

> Total All States

77,065

23,797

31,060

> Arkansas

0

3,300

0

> California

12,587

0

25,325

>
Georgia

9,709

11,384

3,168

> Illinois

4,160

0

0

> New York

4,360

0

0

> North Carolina

0

9,113

0

> Texas

46,249

0

2,567

> Source: World Trade Atlas, U.S. State ExportsUS Imports From 2002 through 2004, the
US
received between 92% and 99% of all live rabbit imports from
Canada
(Table 4). During 2004,
Argentina
, which had not exported rabbits to the
US
in 2002 and 2003, exported the second highest number of live rabbits into the
US
. In addition to
Argentina
, several other countries that had not exported rabbits to the
US
in the previous few years began to export live rabbits into the
US
. Table 4. US Imports of Live Rabbits/Hares, by Country, 2002 – 2004

2002

2003

2004

Value (US $)

Quantity (number)

Value (US $)

Quantity (number)

Value (US $)

Quantity (number)

World

908,286

106,451

1,016,786

110,864

1,236,511

110,736

Canada

878,347

105,896

1,003,956

110,746

1,155,425

110,346

Argentina

0

0

0

0

48,300

282

Hungary

16,965

37

0

0

7,700

4

Colombia

0

0

2,100

14

6,000

52

Ireland

0

0

0

0

5,600

7

Netherlands

0

0

0

0

5,086

38

Ukraine

0

0

0

0

4,400

5

Tanzania

0

0

0

0

4,000

2

Germany

12,974

518

2,730

100

0

0

South Africa

0

0

8,000

4

0

0

Source: Global Trade Atlas US imports of rabbit meat, which
were valued at slightly over one million dollars during 2002 and 2003, jumped
to about $1.9 million in 2004 (Table 5). This increase was entirely due to
imports from
China
which rose in value from $1 million to $1.8 million. In 2004,
China
accounted for 96% of all rabbit meat imports to the
US
.
Canada
and
Peru
are the only other nations from which the
US
imported rabbit meat during 2004. Table 5. US Imports of Rabbit/Hare Meat,
by Country, 2002 – 2004

2002

2003

2004

Value (US $)

Quantity (kg)

Value (US $)

Quantity (kg)

Value (US $)

Quantity (kg)

World

1,052,198

638,985

1,136,820

672,548

1,869,548

1,097,380

China

909,093

609,469

1,015,877

653,524

1,800,941

1,088,943

Canada

69,499

11,064

120,943

19,024

66,195

7,998

Peru

0

0

0

0

2,412

439

Spain

73,606

18,452

0

0

0

0

Source: Global Trade Atlas By value, the majority of rabbit
and hare furskins imported to the
US
are dressed and tanned (Table 6). Although the number of dressed and tanned
furskins declined between 2002 and 2004 from about 1.2 million to 627,000,
the associated value of the imported furskins fluctuated around $1 million
over the same three-year period. The
US
imported the majority of tanned furskins from
Spain
in each year of the period, although
China
substantially increased its share of the value of tanned furskin exports to
the
US
and by 2004 had 36% of the
US
’s imported tanned furskin market compared to
Spain
’s 51%. In 2004, the remaining 13% of tanned furskin imports to the
US
originated from nine countries, the majority of which belong to the EU. Table
6. US Imports of Rabbit/Hare Furskins, 2002 – 2004

2002

2003

2004

Value (US $)

Quantity (number)

Value (US $)

Quantity (number )

Value (US $)

Quantity (number )

Tanned furskins

1,280,000

1,155,386

993,000

787,081

1,136,000

626,532

Raw furskins

225,000

811,873

408,000

1,581,448

332,000

982,621

Source: World Trade Atlas The numbers of imported raw rabbit
furskins jumped from about 800,000 to 1.6 million between 2002 and 2003 and
then declined to just under 1 million in 2004. While tanned furskins comprised
a 77% share in the value of total rabbit furskin imports, the number of raw
furskin imports made up 61% of the overall quantity of rabbit furskins imported
to the
US
in 2004. The top two countries from which the
US
imported raw rabbit furskins in 2004 were
Belgium
, with 69% of imports, and
Germany
, with 24% of total raw furskin imports. What is the Distribution of Rabbit
Farms and Rabbits in the US?In 2002, establishments that house rabbits were situated in
all 50 states of the US
, ranging from 5 farms in Hawaii to 826 farms in Texas. Although
Texas had the largest number of establishments housing rabbits, Pennsylvania
with over 54,000 rabbits had the largest numbers of farmed rabbits. Both,
Indiana and Kentucky may be considered medium-sized rabbit producing states,
respectively housing about 7,000 and 7,200 rabbits. Number of Establishments
and Rabbits by State, 2002 USDA Census of Agriculture

State

Farms

Rabbits

State

Farms

Rabbits

Alabama

131

5,786

Montana

92

1,085

Alaska

8

196

Nebraska

82

1,416

Arizona

39

931

Nevada

21

742

Arkansas

173

22,877

New Hampshire

57

584

California

417

45,795

New Jersey

116

2,937

Colorado

198

3,357

New Mexico

92

986

Connecticut

72

1,316

New York

441

17,758

Delaware

7

56

North Carolina

213

7,078

Florida

254

15,303

North Dakota

38

525

Georgia

131

5,042

Ohio

665

12,556

Hawaii

5

19

Oklahoma

296

7,580

Idaho

120

2,330

Oregon

294

18,601

Illinois

199

5,624

Pennsylvania

569

54,118

Indiana

335

6,933

Rhode Island

8

215

Iowa

208

3,486

South Carolina

119

2,245

Kansas

128

6,309

South Dakota

53

775

Kentucky

251

7,195

Tennessee

306

28,816

Louisiana

124

3,300

Texas

826

22,995

Maine

109

8,784

Utah

152

3,069

Maryland

93

2,015

Vermont

45

816

Massachusetts

84

8,233

Virginia

141

2,770

Michigan

596

16,762

Washington

221

4,574

Minnesota

328

7,011

West Virginia

205

2,560

Mississippi

113

8,406

Wisconsin

514

12,508

Missouri

333

10,473

Wyoming

51

393

Note: The number of rabbits is the inventory at last inspection. The
data only include those premises for which the value of agricultural production
was greater the $1,000 per year.Source: USDA, NASS, 2002 Census
of Agriculture;CEI’s plans for follow up: CEI will continue to
monitor the situation but has no plans at this time to issue additional reports. If
you need more information or if you have questions or would like to comment
on this worksheet, please contact Cynthia Johnson at (970) 494-7332 or Wolf
Weber at (970) 494-7222.